


Trust, Storytimes' and a side of Spaghetti

by PhenomenalBrat



Series: Dansen Dinner dates [11]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Advice, Breakup's, Catching Up, Couples movie night, Dinner dates, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Maggie Sawyer mentioned, Minor Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Minor Querl Dox/Nia Nal, Past Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Text Messages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28733403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenomenalBrat/pseuds/PhenomenalBrat
Summary: Kelly and Alex prep some food for couples movie and game Night with Lena/Kara and Brainy/Nia. Alex tells Kelly about a text she's received from her ex and gets some wise and mature advice on the subject.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen
Series: Dansen Dinner dates [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789765
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	Trust, Storytimes' and a side of Spaghetti

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: This one is a little hard to explain. Kelly's going to explain the nature of health breakup's, communication and closure to Alex while Alex weighs a complicated decision. I think maturity means understanding the complicated nature or romance that's interconnected with friendship and how we can give and receive closure at different speeds that may surprise us.

Kelly moved the spaghetti noodles from the container, into the pot of boiling water. She was quietly giving Alex a minute as her fiance looked at her phone thinking rather hard. Kelly didn't want to interject here unless Alex asked. Things were running a bit faster dinner wise, since J'onn was babysitting Amelia for the evening, giving them a chance to just have adult time or couples night in with Some friends. Alex seemed to have been thrown off by the text she got.

"I should just text back that I can't come." Alex finally blurted it out as she sat there. She looked over at Kelly clearly looking for some kind of que.

"Do you not want to go?" Kelly asked.

Alex looked at Kelly like she had grown a second head. "Are you saying you want me to go have drinks with my ex?" It was a blunt question, honest and tinged with confusion. 

"I- I want you to not be scared to go." Kelly worked to word her thoughts on the best way possible. She pulled out the electric skillet and sat in on the counter to quickly cook the ground beef for the spaghetti. 

"Kelly- I- its just-"

"You're worried about me."

"Yeah." Alex. Sounded dejected and conflicted.

"Alex, you two weren't just romantically involved, you were friends too right." It was less of a question and more of a statement. Alex simply nodded in response. 

"I just don't want her to think-"

"Just be 100% honest, be clear and be a friend. "

Alex' face displayed a level of relief that Kelly wasn't even sure Alex was aware of.

"Have you ever-"

"Had drinks with an ex?"

"Well have you?"

Kelly was hit with a particularly complex memory from the past. It was a combination of something very healthy that had happened years ago. It had taught her one of the most important lessons about closure and forgiveness and time that she had ever learned.

"Alex, do you remember when I told you about Jason?"

"The guy you dated to try to convince yourself you weren't-"

"Yeah. That was him." Kelly turned around towards the stove to turn it down. "I- I had drinks with him."

"Oh?" The question ' _ when'  _ and 'why' hung unasked in the air. 

"It was- it was after- after Val and after…after Gwen and-"

"Kelly-"

"It wasn't anything bad I swear. It was just complicated."

**. . . .**

**(2 years ago)**

_ The weather was much more crisp and carried a slight chill as Kelly exited the taxi. She stepped out in front of the bar and felt a spark of anxiety run up her spine at a momentary back and forth of memories. Part of it was pleasant memories of Val and part of it was some more recent painful ones of Gwen. For a second she thought about simply climbing back into the taxi and leaving. Kelly wasn't even sure why she had responded to Jason's text at all. _

_ This was not a date. It was more like a reckoning perhaps. One might even call it 'catching up with an old friend' cause in a lot of ways, we were old friends. Perhaps part of her had always felt like they owed each other an adult conversation, without the hyper intensity of immediate raw emotion in the way. The text after they broke up had been tinged with anger and pain on both sides. The complication of caring about Jason but not having been in love with him while trying to compel herself to be something she wasn't, was a heavy memory. Perhaps it had all been her fault. Then again maybe the whirlwind of the last few months had stripped her of the ability to see facts. _

_ Truth be told, part of Kelly was still scared. She needed to talk to someone who knew the old Kelly before she could even begin to piece together the new version of herself. Hasani had held that job far too often so here she was. _

_ Her black skinny jeans felt surprisingly comfortable and my t-shirt was covered by a loose grey jacket as Kelly headed inside. Ever since getting back from Mexico and getting some rather blunt advice, she had been ready to tackle and work through some things in my past.  _

_ The club was loud and energetic as Kelly remembered it to be but the booths in the back near the side offered some quiet and solitude. Jason stood up as he saw her. He wore a red button up shirt and jeans. The beginning of a beard on his face was noticeable. He looked well. His eyes seemed much more calm and relaxed and at peace. _

_ "Kelly." He nodded as she approached the booth and sat down. Jason was much more subdued in some ways than Kelly had remembered him.  _

_ "Hey." _

_ There were two drinks on the table. One was the Mickey Iced beer he appeared to still favor. He slid a cup over to me. _

_ "I figured you still took Cranberry vodka iced. " _

_ Kelly nodded appreciating the gesture. There was a combination of comfort and familiarity pushing up against the weight of the distance time had brought. There wasn't tension, at least not in the sexual sense. Mostly what I felt was confusion and questions about what was going through his mind.  _

_ Jason was by in large a good man. In my raw anger all those years ago part of Kelly had probably wanted to see him as the villian of her story in her coming out...again. She had been lying to myself long before she met him though. If there's one thing Kelly had learned in the years since our relationship ended with the record scratching confession of her own gayness, it was that you simply can't begin to be honest with other people while still lying to yourself. His anger and confusion had given way to sadness and understanding as well as a kind of peace that had no words. The more she saw, the more she realized that she needed to see.  _

_ The music pulsated through the room playing a remix of 'Confident' by Demi Lovato, that Kelly found very interesting. "So why did you text me after all this time?" Kelly jumped straight to the point as she sipped her drink. _

_ "Nostalgia perhaps. It's been a while since we-" _

_ "Yeah. It has. Jason I-" part of Kelly wished to offer some Apology for the past. _

_ "Kelly, I guess- I just-" _

_ "Jason-" _

_ "I'm sorry. " _

_ She was taken aback. Her mind racked itself trying to gather together an understanding of what he was apologizing for. "I- no I should-" _

_ "You told me the truth and I reacted- I didn't try to understand. " _

_ Kelly went quiet. She had rolled the guilt of that abrupt break up around in her head for years. She had, at times, felt a question in the back of her mind. _

_ The server walked by bringing more drinks before moving to the next table. He nodded and Kelly vaguely recognized him from other times she had been to the bar.  _

_ "Kelly?" _

_ "Yeah." She turned her attention back to Jason. "Sorry, I was just-" _

_ " It's been awhile since you hit the bar, hasn't it?" He smiled gently as he asked. He was handsome, Kelly noted. He always had been. If this was a different time, Kelly might have mistaken her esthetic appreciation for his appearance as some flair of attraction. That wasn't it though. It was more like the way one could appreciate that a sunset was nice, without wanting to fuck the sunset obviously.  _

_ "Yeah. You could say it has been a while." Her face must have registered some discomfort and pain from the rawness of the memories that the conversation invited forth. _

_ "Hey. You okay?" _

_ "Yeah. I was just thinking about Gw-" she paused. There must be some rule against discussing your love life with your ex. Jason didn't feel like an ex though. He felt like a guy friend by not in some romantic sense. Perhaps it was her growing understanding of herself that allowed her to look back now with maturity and focus rather than abrasive reactionary bitterness and misunderstanding. The hurt she had felt back then had been both a reflection of the pain she knew she'd caused him and her anger at him and herself. _

_ "Thinking about?" He prompted her to continue. _

_ "Gwen." She sighed, " I-I -the bar just made me-" _

_ "I see. Good memories of bad ones?" _

_ "Both...or maybe neither." Kelly reached for her drink, draining the glass. "What have you been up to?" She changed the subject away from herself. She was actually curious how he would answer. The memory of how heartbroken he had been, ate at her as she sat there now. On the other hand his insinuation that she had been cheating still felt like a verbal slap. Perhaps it wasn't totally false. Her heart had been running after Val even while she used to lay next to him in bed. It was not unfair to admit that; both of those things can be true.  _

_ "I- I'm okay. I'm actually seeing someone, " he admitted. "We've...well April and I have been together a few- few years now." _

_ Perhaps it was selfish, but hearing that information felt like absolution. He was in love and happy and steady. Kelly found herself reminded of some wise words from her auntie… _ "sometimes, two good people aren't neccesarily good for each other. You can care about someone and not be in love with them. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem only comes, when folks are not honest and drag things out...sometimes that person just ain't fo' you and you're not for them. Neither of you is the villian, but you needs to get yo' hands off someone else's blessing and go find yours."  _ Granted she had been talking to her friend Hatty from church about a guy she was trying to be with but still the point was solid. Kelly had definitely had given the truth freedom and taken her hands off something and someone that simply wasn't for her. _

_ "I-" _

_ "Wait, does your girlfriend know-" _

_ "That I called you for drinks?" _

_ "Yeah." _

_ "Of course." _

_ Of course. Jason was honest to nearly a fault. He was steady and reliable and honest. She had liked that about him, even if there hadn't been that sexual spark between them. " I'm glad to hear it." _

  
  


**_. . . ._ **

**(Present)**

Alex was stirring the sauces and ground beef together in the electric skillet as Kelly related more or her story. Kelly could see the metaphorical wheels turning in Alex' head.

"So it was cathartic?" It was less a question and more of a statement. It could not have been more clear that she was thinking now.

"It was…"

"I just...I don't know...I-"

"Part of you still wants to be sure that she's okay but part of you is scared that she might not be."

"I never-"

"You never wanted to hurt her cause it hurt you to?"

Alex laughed a little. "Why does it feel like you read my every thought sometimes?"

"It's one of my secret skills…or maybe I just love you and know you well."

Kelly opened the oven to pull the garlic bread out. Alex, who had finished the sauce, turned the skillet down and turned around to grab a bowl for the salad to go into. 

"Well...Nia and Brainy should be here in 15 minutes," Alex commented. 

"I swear it was supposed to be their turn to cook couples dinner today." Kelly laughed a little as she recalled that.

"I thought it was supposed to be Lena and Kara's turn."

"It was someone's turn. "

"The burden of being adults is ours alone. We can't just eat take out and pizza everytime we get together for a couples game night." There was some laughter shared between them for a moment as they worked around each other.

**. . . .**

"You're so mature. I love that you-" Alex was looking at her phone and sending a text.

"Years of practice," Kelly commented off handedly, " and trust too. Besides, I've been there. I know what's going on on your head and your heart." She finished setting out plates on the table as she spoke. 

"It's not even like I feel any kind of tension..it's-"

"It's worry and friendship and wanting to be sure that she's healing from the old wounds, same as you did."

Alex nodded. "So we're gonna grab a beer tomorrow, say hi, catch up."

"Perfect."

"I love you."

" I know. I feel it all the time. I love you and trust you and-" Kelly stepped closer to Alex who pulled her into a kiss. It was soft and warm, reassuring and delicious. They got lost in it for a moment. Alex hand slid down to gently cup Kelly's firm backside as she drew her into a deeper kiss as if she was trying to pour a myriad of emotions into her at the moment. 

The sound of the apartment door closing barely registered behind them.

"Oh my god." Kara's voice echoed. She sounded both surprised and alittle giggly. 

Kelly and Alex pulled apart quickly.

"I told you we should of Knocked." Lena simply seemed to be politely averting her eyes, thought her face held a knowing smile. She was holding a bag with 3 bottles of wine and she looked rather casual in her back skinny jeans and red sweater. It complemented the blue sweater Kara herself wore.

"Remind me to take back that key from her," Alex sighed jokingly.

There was a knocking at the door and Brainy's voice from the other side. Kara strolled over towards the door to let them in. Lena moved towards the counter to set the wine down.

"I brought cupcakes."

"We calculated that-" Brainy was explaining the desert decision to Kara but Kelly's attention was pulled to Lena who was opening a bottle of red wine. Alex was already grabbing wine glasses for everyone. 

"You two are so…" Lena was quietly musing out loud.

"Considering the stuff my innocent eyes have nearly seen when I walk into your office with you and Kara-"

"Fine...fine…"

Alex wondered over towards Kara, Nia and Brainy to give out wine glasses and que up the Netflix for that new Bridgerton show.

"So…??" Lena was looking at Kelly, studying her.

"What?"

"Did she tell you about…"

"Did she tell me that Maggie text?"

"Appearantly she did…" Lena noted as she sipped her wine.

"They're catching up next weekend over drinks." Kelly was casual and unconcerned. 

"Good. And good that you know Alex well enough not to think it's anything bad or salicious. "

Kelly sipped her wine from the glass Lena had poured. She was much too mature to fall victim to questions racking her brain. Her fiance loved her beyond any doubt that a younger version of Kelly might have had. That was how you grew. You learn to forgive your past self and others and that's really when wounds heal the most.

"Okay it's starting!' Nia exclaimed as the music for Bridgerton played on the screen. 

Kelly felt the urge to roll her eyes as Nia commented on  _ ' the duke of hastings '  _ and Brainy mumbled something. There was nothing to worry about now, except the mess that was sure to follow this group get together. Lena slipped off the stool to go grab her seat cuddled up next to Kara.

Alex turned to look at Kelly before looking over at their friends on the couch. Kelly took that as her que to join as she brought over more wine glasses and an un opened bottle. The food was cooling down before eating and wine was being passed between them and they had time. As she got over to the couch, Alex pulled Kelly to sit in her lap and wrapped her arms around her and she was simply reminded again of how well they fit together. 

**_FIN_ **

Thanks for reading. Please leave comments, questions, kudos or constructive criticism. 

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: I just really feel like some people in Fandom needed to read this. Multiple things can be true at a time. People will learn that as they get older. To insinuate that Alex should or would want to cheat on Kelly ever is high key awful. Conversely, to imply that Alex should never run into Maggie or have an adult conversation with her again is disingenuous. It boggles ones' mind why the only things people can fathom are "sexual tension with an ex" or "never speak to that person again." Life relationships and friendship are more dynamic than that. There are much better ways to conceive of communication happening between Alex and Maggie, that isn't tense or implying any sort of Offensive cheating narrative. I think the discussion Alex and Kelly have, makes that clear without disparaging or down playing Maggie as a character. 
> 
> Also of note, at some point folks need to acknowledge that Dansen isn't a stop gap or obstacle for sanvers. Alex as an adult has simply found love again. That's a normal and healthy thing in life. Conversely, regardless of what peoples opinions may be of some actresses IRL, the characters are all circling interpersonal relationship dynamics that different people connect to. That is also valid.
> 
> Kelly, I fundamentally believe, is very secure in her knowledge that Alex loves her and she's able to offer a beautiful, healthy and mature prespective as an adult that more people need. I'm sure some people aren't gonna get this and that's unfortunate because Kelly's flashback story gives a solid point on multiple subjects, in my opinion.
> 
> Author's notes 2: Also of note, is the subject we discuss a bit in the bar flashback. For those who do get the message, or have been able to break up in healthy ways, or people (LGBT women) who have found themselves wrap in compulsive heterosexual situations and then later been able to reflect back on those things, hopefully this resonated for you. Thanks for reading as always.
> 
> -BJ


End file.
